Wuthering Heights

Synopsis

The story of Heathcliff and Cathy - tragic lovers. Heathcliff and Catherine's union results in the destruction of many lives, despair and revenge.

Our Review:

2 October 2008

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights is, of course, a behemoth of canonical English literature. To attempt to adapt this epic tome into a two-hour performance is ambitious enterprise, to say the least - if not an entirely misguided one. Not to be deterred, however, April De Angelis and the Birmingham Repertory Company have rolled their sleeves up and taken it on. Sadly, however, they've not really come out on top.

The simple fact is that some things just don't translate well to stage. Bronte's perennial love story of Heathcliff and Cathy up on the wild Yorkshire moors is rich, complex and epic, but when condensed into 2 hours just seems a little bit baffling and occasionally ridiculous. There is only so much wailing and collapsing that you can take without either wanting to cry or laugh yourself. Unfortunately, the audience seemed to plump for the latter; often at moments of high drama; which, presumably were not intended to be quite so amusing.

This adaptation lac...

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Latest User Review

S Thomas - 3 October 2008:

I enjoyed Susannah York's performance, although it was always going to be a challenge to dramatise a novel with a single and involved narrator without making her - rather than each actor in turn - the source of all characterisation. The burden was heavy and allowed others to gurn and simper as required: think Les Dawson, Charles Hawtrey... Heathcliff and Catherine, supposedly the same age, unfortunately looked like father and daughter: that didn't help, and sadly I just didn't buy either of Amanda Ryan's performances. Maybe she ought to read the novel. Meanwhile, some of the diction was truly atrocious. (Not David Whitworth as Joseph: Brontė actually wrote him that way.) Soft southerners, such as I, would have appreciated surtitling. All in all, there have been better adaptations....

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